Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-01-01
DIvIDEzD'LABoR.
Secret Strifes and Petty Jealcusies
Likely 70 Disrupt the Knights
OF Labor
Talk of a Special Session of the General
Assembly to Consider Nobody
Knows What.

NEW YORK, Dec 27.-The Tribune this
morning says: Organized labor seems to
be in bad tsnele, which grows worse in
stead of better. The dissatisfaction in
the Knights of Labor is growing more
widespread. and some members of the
order are afraid thst the present difficulty
can only result in split. There seems
TO be little doubt that the legal require
ments for call for special session
of the general assembly will be fulfilled
within short time, or that the call
will be signed by district assemblies in st
least half a dozen states, ard perhaps
twice that many. Among the dissatisfied
element, however, the feeling is that no
matter if the call is made cut according
to the constitution, there is 10 Certainty
that the session will be held. Ole of
them said yesterday: "Oue the prin-
cipaI things against which we pro-
test is tue assumption Of dictatorship
BY the general executive board, and their
evi ient intention to override the consti-
tuition, wheneN er it conflicts with tleir
own ideas If Mr. Powderly should IT.
fuse to call the special session, what
could we do? The general worthy fore
man, the next highest officer, would not
take any action General Secretary Litch
mau certainly would not, mr.
would the executive board, for, with
the single exception of Barry. thy
are alp in accord with Mr.. Powderly.
Our only remedy would be to call
special session ourselves, and then all
who attended it woIld be IN open revolt,
and would be either expelled or sus-
pended This would mean split, and
whether or not We sre prepared for this
am not able to say, but 1t may come TO
that. l should be exceedingly sorry to
see it; but if the order is to continue to
be of any use to the labor movement,
something must be done pretty soon"
The Same opirion was expressed by
many other Knights. Even some of the
members Of District 40, the leaders of
which are in thorough accord with the
general officers, sh>w disposition to'I
kick overthe. traces, and only the iron
maintained bY T. B. Mcguire,
the former master workman, who
is now OF the general executive
board, keeps the dissatisfaction from
being shown. The l,cRl fight between
the Knights and the unions glows in BIZ
terness, and the time is not far off when
open warfare will be proclaimed. The
action of he trades union in Columbus IN
the formation OF the American Federation
Of Labor has encouraged the trades
unions. 1t ia said on good au hoy
ity that j. II. Cassidy, one II tn
most prominent members OF Yle American
Society OF Carpenters and 'Joiners, ar
nouuced publicly a. the Central Labor
uuiun last Sunday that be intended to de-
clare war to the knife against the
Knights OF Labor. The Knights
snow no disposition to shirk the
fight, aud il thy and the unions
do not fEd some common ground on
which they can stand, the chances IRE
that no strikes viii be won by the car
penteIs for some time, for the knights
will take The places of the striking trades
unionists ard the unionisIs'the pl4Ces of
the knights when they strife.